To Guard
by Jetainia
Summary: His duty was to Keep and to Guard.


_MC4A - Paranormal Phantasm_

 _Fill #17_

 _Representations: Harry Potter; Ianto Jones; Jack Harkness; Immortality_

 _Bonus Challenges: Creature Feature; Second Verse (Rock of Ages); Second Verse (Middle Name)_

 _Word count: 704_

 _Beta: Aya Diefair_

* * *

He knew he couldn't stay long, that was his life now. Always moving and never stopping long enough to form attachments. Never spending more than five minutes at a time with any other human being. Never knowing another person beyond that of a distant neighbour. It was a lonely existence for some, but he was not alone. He was never alone and never had been even if he hadn't known before.

Growing up as he had, hunted and hated for what he could do, he had given up on finding someone he could trust. He couldn't trust adults, they would say one thing and do another. No one had come to save him when he was young, but there was always someone watching over him silently, making sure that he wasn't broken irrevocably.

He had thought he had been freed once upon a time. Had thought that perhaps everything would change—and it had—but it had also stayed exactly the same. The only difference was the reason he was persecuted. Before, it was that he could do magic. After, it was that he couldn't do magic well enough. And still he was watched and protected by his silent guardian.

He hadn't known until after Voldemort had been defeated. That was when his guardian revealed itself. That was when he understood and when he left. Since that time he had become a wanderer, going from place to place. Occasionally stopping for a while to learn a skill or trade that would help or was simply interesting.

He would guard as he had been guarded. He would watch as he had been watched. That was his role now, forever watching, forever keeping, forever guarding. For all eternity, he would perform his duties. He was the Keeper and Guardian of Death and he watched silently as the world passed by around him.

* * *

He saw the others occasionally, those who travelled through time and space at will as they passed him by. They never saw him, but he watched them and thanked them for saving those that needed to be saved. They changed all the time, but some would return and the leader was always the same just with a different face. He did not bother with most Time Lords, they had their own guardians, but this was a renegade and he no longer lived by the constructs the others had thought up.

Then he saw the companion that had been abandoned by Time and took up a position to the right of him. Those that Time abandoned always required extra care and attention. Thankfully they did not occur very often, and after a few centuries, they could make their own way without a guardian constantly watching over them. He still visited their general area but no longer hovered.

He stayed with the companion, one Captain Jack Harkness, and kept him safe in death and in life. It was not his time yet to vanish and it never would be because Time had forgotten him. He was known by a different name as he stood by Captain Harkness. Ianto Jones was the one who made tea and coffee. He was rather good at the tea (he was originally from England, it was practically a requirement), and had grown better at coffee.

He took upon the more dangerous cases without ever letting the others know. There was no need for them to be involved. Even Jack would be at risk if he encountered the right type of creature. When he was needed elsewhere, he went. The Keeper and Guardian of Death could not remain on a single planet all the time, but he could have a base. Ianto's just happened to be the same as Torchwood Three's.

He did not interfere when the 456 came to Earth, it was not against Death. Ianto was no hero. Not anymore. He was a Keeper and a Guardian. He guarded. He kept. He watched. He stepped in when someone messed with his Constant, but otherwise he did not interfere. When, one day, Jack asked him why he refused to be in the field more often, he replied, "It is not my duty to defend, but to guard. And that I do quite well."


End file.
